Post #231 – Memoir Writing Tiny Tip – Matilda Butler
Tiny Tip #6 Just for You
This is the sixth in a newish and irregular series of short blog posts designed to get you to focus on just one small point. I call them Tiny Tips.
Scroll to the bottom if you are interested in how this series came to be.
Case in Point:
Have you read any of Elena Ferrante’s novels? Ferrante is an Italian author (true identity is a secret, it seems). Her novels are translated into English as well as other language. Time Magazine’s list of 10 best fiction books for The Best of Culture 2015 placed The Story of the Lost Child (the fourth and final volume in her Neapolitan novel series) in position #1.
I’m not that far since I’ve just finished the first volume, My Brilliant Friend. If you get a chance to read any of Ferrante’s novels, pay attention to point of view (POV). There are so many times that it would have been easy for the author to get inside the head of multiple characters. Instead, she has the entire story told only from Elena’s (also the name of one of the two lead characters) perspective.
As a memoir writer, you are also telling a story from just one point of view. And if you decide to tell some of the story from another person’s perspective you need to make it believable. Sometimes in editing memoirs, I find the author unknowingly confuses the perspective. As a reader, I become lost. Be sure that you honor the contract you make with a reader. There are multiple ways to handle POV. Just be consistent and ensure the reader knows what you are doing.
And that’s what you need to do.
How This Tiny Tip Series Started
The idea for a series of short writing tips came to me while reading the program notes for a chamber music concert. I realized that many (well, ok, most) of my blog articles get to be long and often require you to do certain things — like write from prompts I’ve provided. And while I will continue with this type of longer article because I think they are of real value, I realized that sometimes as writers we just want a little bit of information or a small new idea or a thought stated differently. We don’t have a lot of time.
That’s the concept behind each Tiny Tip. Just a nugget to give you something to think about as you go through your busy day.
Enjoy.
